Real Estate has a Long Road to Recovery | Real Estate

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The next years of real estate are not going to be positive for homeowners. In fact, it’s estimated that in 2012 over 60% of all home sales will be foreclosures or short sales. This means that the banks will control the pricing of more than half the real estate market and we can expect continued declining values. This idea may not sit well with many after the mortgage meltdown and moral hazard issues we had over the past five years.

Further, we at Sellect Realty believe that it will be another five to seven years before we see home values near their previous peaks and then we expect a plateau for several years to follow before growth. Currently our market is still declining. Despite month-over-month gains we have had another drastic decline in home values over the past 12 months. According to the recent statistics released by Realtor.com the average listing price decreased by 11.42% from June 2010 to $250,933.

Regardless of the economy, we in Atlanta have the advantage of volume which many markets in the United States lack. Atlanta is the 8th highest searched market on Realtor.com and in many cases homes are on the market for a few short weeks. Unfortunately, that often requires a short sale or foreclosure in order to competitively price to sell.

In short, we have a long road ahead of us before it gets better. If you or someone you know are in need of help the best thing you can do is contact a professional. Avoid third party companies that advertise that they stop the foreclosure process and go to non-profits or experienced ‘distressed property’ Real Estate Agents.

For further information on our market or questions on what it takes to sell in today’s market you can email me at: chris@sellectrealty.com.